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Narragansett [archive]
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Narragansett
The Narragansett culture was an American Indian tribe located in western Rhode Island adjacent to Narragansett Bay. Their population was around 10,000 people in the 1600's. Because of diseases introduced by European colonists along with warfare, the population of the tribe plummeted to only 200 people. Their numbers have since rebounded and at present count there are 2,456 people in the Narragansett tribe.
The Narragansett were once a very powerful tribe. They often went to war with neighboring tribes in order to gain territory. When the European colonists first arrived, their diseases began to affect many of the other neighboring tribes. The Narragansett took advantage of this and started to take control of neighboring territories. A man named Roger Williams befriended the Narragansett and they soon came to trust him. They even went to war with the Pequot as an ally of the colonists because of Williams. The Pequot were almost destroyed. Diseases started to affect the Narragansett people; their isolation did not help them for long.
The Narragansett Indian spent a great deal of their day in the fields tending to their corn crop which was their major staple. They gathered nuts and berries and other plants. The Narragansett were also very skilled hunters and fishermen; they used this to supplement their diet. The typical family lived in a structure called a wigwam. They spent a great deal of time building and repairing their canoes which was their primary means of transportation. They would seasonally move to where food was readily available, living by the coast in the summer and moving inland in the winter.
The Narragansett fought in the so-called King Philip’s War in 1675 which reduced their population dramatically. The tribe took on the colonists and England because their land was being taken away and their way of life was being destroyed . Even though they were allies before, the war was inevitable. In December of 1675, the English and their Indian allies wiped out more than 20% of the Narragansett tribe in a single battle.
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